Try @ TXST

Giselle Kowalski:
Hi everybody, my name is Giselle Kowalski and I'm the digital content producer here at Texas State University. Today you're listening to Try at Texas State, and we have two very special guests. I have Tyson and AnaBelle here who are graduating this May. Tyson is a digital media intern, DMI major, KTSW sports director and a jack of all trades. And AnaBelle is also one of our digital media interns here, a journalism major, writer for the University Star, a singer-songwriter, and a lot of other things as well. So welcome to Try at Texas State.

AnaBelle:
Thank you. Thanks for having us, Giselle.

Tyson:
Absolutely. Thank you so much.

Giselle Kowalski:
I'm so happy for y'all. So I'm going to start kind of from the beginning because we're going to look back on everything that you've done here at Texas State, and we're just going to have a fun little conversation. So to start us off, how did you even get here? Why are you at Texas State? Where did you find us? Why are you here?

Tyson:
Texas State's been very important within my family. My mom came here, she got her bachelor's here. My dad came here. He didn't finish his undergrad degree, but he was partying a little bit too much. But both of my parents went here, my brother went here. So when I was in high school, even in middle school, I've always had a soft spot for Texas State. I've been on the campus numerous times during my adolescence during high school, so I kind of always knew I was going to come here. And fun fact, I didn't apply for any other colleges besides Texas State. Once I took my SAT, saw that my score was good enough, I sent my application, got accepted, and that was that. I knew I was coming here from day one.

AnaBelle:
Yeah. OK, so if I think back to high school, and I don't know if anybody else can relate to this, but I didn't know that there was life beyond high school. In my head, the end of life was the end of high school, especially for me. I'm very close with my family, so I was like, "I can't leave my family. I don't know, what is beyond that?" And so when I came to Texas State, I did it during a tour day and it was cloudy, it was rainy, and we toured the campus and I fell in love with the campus like so many people do. And I remember driving down Sessom and being like, "This is like the gorgeous parts of California that I really appreciate within Texas."
I had never really known that the Hill Country. So I think just the comfort and the beauty. I was like, "I know I'm supposed to do something here." And my family has a history here too. My dad ran for congressman in San Marcos, so he would go door to door knocking on houses. And then I have an older brother who went here. So we kind of, I guess, relate on that, Tyson, that we both have some ties to this, but I mean this town is magical. So a lot of it was the town and the scenery too.

Giselle Kowalski:
So AnaBelle, you said that you weren't familiar with the Hill Country. I'm going to ask you both, where are you from?

Tyson:
I'm from an hour up north from Round Rock, Texas. So my family is 45 minutes down the road. I see them quite often.

AnaBelle:
And then I'm from Houston, so North Houston. And I feel like a lot of people I talk to, it's either Houston, Dallas, Austin, a lot of those big Texas cities.

Giselle Kowalski:
What was your major when you got here and have y'all switched ever since?

AnaBelle:
Ooh.

Tyson:
You want to start?

AnaBelle:
Yeah, I can start that one. I have always known I want to be a journalist. So when I was little, I started a newspaper for my house and I would go around and interview people. So I've known from the beginning that's what I want to do and what I really, I feel like I have to do to honor what I want to do, if that makes sense. But I had a minor in social work and after I got here, I took one, it was like an intro class to art history, and I fell in love with it. So I switched to art history. And then I'm a musician, like you mentioned, so I switched to music as a minor at one point, because I was like, this is a great music program. A ton of my friends are in the music program, in the country band, which crosses into that. So I was like, this would be fun, I'll just switch to this minor. So I've done a lot of music classes and then I switched back so that I can graduate in time. So I've floated around a little bit.

Giselle Kowalski:
So you switched back your minor to art history then?

AnaBelle:
Yes, yeah.

Giselle Kowalski:
Oh wow.

AnaBelle:
Which was fun to go back to those classes to finish it out.

Giselle Kowalski:
Art history was always my favorite class.

AnaBelle:
Really?

Giselle Kowalski:
I didn't even know that about you. That's so cool.

AnaBelle:
That's so cool.

Giselle Kowalski:
OK, what about you, Tyson?

Tyson:
My journey has been a little bit weird. So when I first came to Texas State as a freshman, I had absolute zero clue of what I want to do. I didn't know what interests me, I didn't know what I was good at. I had no clue. So my first year here, my first two semesters I was undecided. I was just taking the general studies class, like history, math, science, and I was really just testing the waters and a lot of different things. And growing up, I've always kind of had a little of a speech impediment, a stutter a little bit, and my mom was like, "You should take a communications class." And I had Dr. Michael Burns. I don't think he works here anymore, but I took his intro to mass comm class and it really just kind of opened up my world to, "Wow, in communication, there's so many different areas, fields, industries, that I could go in with this."
So I was like, "OK, this is cool." So I think my sophomore year I switched to mass comm major, and then I think after that I went to some other comm major. And then finally I took Laurie Fluker's class. She really just emphasized all the different stuff they have in the school of journalism and mass comm, like DMI, electronic media, and she really preached both of those as well as KTSW and the student media orgs we have here on campus. So I was really just like, "You know what, Dr. Fluker, I'm just going to take whatever you say and I'm just going to go with it." I have to give another shout out to Dale Blasingame. I took FDOM and that really solidified me in the DMI program. And really since junior year, I kind of fell in love with all things digital media, communication, advertising, PR and marketing, whatever it is. I really just fell in love with it. And yeah, now here I am, but I graduated as a DMI major, so my journey's been a little bit crazy, switched majors several times, but I'm glad where I am now.

Giselle Kowalski:
Yeah, those are crazy stories honestly, because I didn't know how different y'all were in terms of where you guys came from, especially even where you grew up and now you're both in the same spots but doing such intense work in your fields of study, so that's wonderful. So let's take it back a little bit to imagine yourself, close your eyes, imagine yourself, it's freshman year. How different are you now versus your freshman year self?

AnaBelle:
Oh my goodness.

Giselle Kowalski:
What has changed?

AnaBelle:
Everything.

Tyson:
I'm a completely different person.

Giselle Kowalski:
But what in particular? What is your outlook now? How has it changed?

Tyson:
OK, so coming into Texas State as a freshman, I felt that I was pretty much still a kid. I was super immature. My first semester here, school, academics, grades, class wasn't necessarily a top of my priorities. Having fun, partying, hanging out with friends, meeting new people was, and my grades reflected that. My first semester was the worst year academically I've had here at Texas State. And ever since that semester, I feel like I've grown up each semester after that. I had to make a decision with myself. I'm either going to go through Texas State having fun, meeting new people, partying, or else I'm going to come here for what I came to come here was to get an education and I decided to go down that road. And I felt as if every semester after my first semester I was finding more about myself. I was taking school more seriously. And now where I am now, I feel that I've grown so much as a young man, as a professional and just as a student. So I just feel like I'm more mature, I'm more well-rounded, a better human. Yeah.

AnaBelle:
Yeah. I'm going to give a thorough answer and then we can see what we need to do with it. But basically when I graduated college, the pandemic hit, so I didn't even get a graduation.

Giselle Kowalski:
When you graduated high school.

AnaBelle:
I'm so sorry. You're right.

Giselle Kowalski:
You haven't done that yet.

AnaBelle:
No, I'm going to say that. When I graduated high school, the pandemic hit that spring break, so I didn't even get to walk the stage. My birthday was on graduation, so it was just a lot of things happening. What did I turn 18 or something? And then I am graduating and it was just like the world shut down. So during the pandemic, my family, we camped for a year, and so I saw the country and we avoided people, but it felt like the world was a ghost town. And originally I had planned to go to Texas State. I had gotten accepted into the newspaper, I had my roommates, I had everything planned. And when the pandemic got really bad, this is 2020, I had to set all of that aside and say, "Never mind. I'm going to take a gap year. I'm going to figure out my own health stuff."
And my family, we had our complicated situation where we traveled camping to avoid people. But anyway, so when I came back to college my freshman year, my perspective, I love the perspective that I had and I feel like it's something that I hold on to and that I'm trying to honestly get back to because I had this view of, I've seen a lot of the world at this point, at least like this country and I want people now and I want to connect with people now. And we're finally able to get out of our homes and finally able to see our faces again. And I didn't know if that would happen. I didn't know if I'd get to go to college. I didn't know if we were ever going to get off Zoom. So when I came in, I was like, I am doing everything. I'm going to meet everyone. And I would go to literally every event happening on campus and in town and I would go by myself so that I was forced to talk to people.
And I feel like that year I really got to know just about the whole town, just about everybody. And I would keep track of people's names on a notes page in my phone. So if there was a certain guy who would be on the Quad advocating for this thing and I'd write in my phone, this is his name, so I could greet everybody by name and kind of like, I really prioritized that. And then throughout college, so many things happen and we have to prioritize work for a bit and then we have to prioritize classes for a bit. And I think for a while there I've gotten very almost corporate with really prioritizing my career, which I think is a really positive thing. But definitely where I am now and going forward and deciding, who do I want to be out of college and out of this student box that I've always fit into since I could remember? I think I'm really holding on to what I feel like is my truest self, which is a bit of an explorer.

Giselle Kowalski:
You guys have talked a lot about your time at Texas State and we're talking about socializing, we're talking about meeting new people, we're talking about our professors sometimes. Do you guys have a favorite memory of Texas State that has really solidified like, "Oh my God, that was one of the best days ever." Maybe it's on campus, maybe it's just something that you were doing near campus. I don't know. Do you guys have a memory that sticks out?

Tyson:
OK. I have a pivotal moment that things kind of switched for me in terms of how my self-esteem and my confidence, and it was actually the first video I did for Texas State was the Jones Try with KDamp.

Giselle Kowalski:
Really?

Tyson:
I never in a million years thought I would be featured on Texas State's Instagram or just even in the same space as the president of the university. And the fact that I was interviewing him, we were having some banter, we were having fun, we were laughing. And now today, looking at our relationship through all the stuff that we've done together, it's crazy, but it kind of just gave me the confidence that I can do anything. I don't know if I told you or anybody else, but I was literally like, I had butterflies for that whole week.

Giselle Kowalski:
Really?

Tyson:
Yes, to that KDamp video, because I didn't want to mess up, I didn't want to come off as unprofessional or anything. But once that video happened and it was very successful, it went great. After that, I just felt like I could do anything. So all the projects, assignments, whatever it was, I just felt like I could accomplish it at a very high level. So that was a pivotal moment for me.

Giselle Kowalski:
That video is still one of the top three Try at Texas State videos that we've ever done. And that was, for people that don't know what it is, it was Tyson basically doing a mukbang with KDamp.

Tyson:
Yeah, it was super cool, it was super fun.

Giselle Kowalski:
That video was really interesting to film, but you did a great job. It's funny you saying that you were nervous because you played it off so well. You did such a great job. So you guys can do anything. I think both of y'all are definitely the kind of people that we throw something at you and you're able to just figure it out. You're sponges.

AnaBelle:
I also wanted to say about that, Tyson, you are such a good communicator and as your coworker, I'm able to see that. And it's cool to hear your journey even as deciding to study communication and stuff, because I feel like your words hold a lot of weight and people really listen to when you speak and you're really good at communicating.

Tyson:
That means a lot. I appreciate that so much.

Giselle Kowalski:
And before we started, you said you don't like talking about yourself but you, you're speaking about yourself so well.

Tyson:
I mean, when you're getting interviewed, you kind of have to-

Giselle Kowalski:
You kind of have to-

Tyson:
Get out of-

Giselle Kowalski:
You have to turn it on.

Tyson:
And that's another thing I just want to say, not one moment, but just my journey at Texas State as a whole is just being out of my comfort zone. Interviewing for Office Hours podcast, being interviewed for this podcast, I've just noticed that when you're outside of your comfort zone, you grow as a person so much and you just learn things about yourself that you never knew you were capable of. So yeah.

AnaBelle:
OK. So when I was thinking there's a montage in my head of all these moments, and there's no way to communicate that on a podcast that's just not possible. But I'm going to zoom in on one tiny little moment, and it's such a small moment, but I think it meant a lot to me, because there's been so many good moments on campus, I wish I could, especially getting to interview people if you put together my journalism, newspaper stuff, and then the women's magazine that I'm editor of and then this job, I'm like, there's so many so meaningful things.
But what I want to talk about is after English class freshman year, it was raining and I had my big umbrella and there was a girl in class and I was like, "I want some ice cream." And she's like, "Let's go get ice cream." And I just remember we huddled under my umbrella and ran down to the little Target and got ice cream, and then I went back to my dorm and ate it. And I don't know why that meant so much to me, but I think in some way it, because back to that idea of we just have been going through a pandemic and we're so afraid of losing human connection, something was like, "Oh my God, I grew up. I'm independent. I'm an independent person. I'm in a college class, it's raining. This is so academia aesthetic." Something about it, I was just like, "I made it. I'm on a college campus and I made it."

Giselle Kowalski:
Yeah, that's definitely, it's like, it's almost like a movie scene and then suddenly you're living it.

AnaBelle:
Yeah, exactly.

Giselle Kowalski:
Yeah, that's a good memory. I like how different, I always, you guys have such different answers. I like both of them. I was going to say something about you saying that you step out of your comfort zone. That's one thing I look at AnaBelle a lot, I feel like you do a lot of scary things.

Tyson:
Absolutely.

Giselle Kowalski:
And you're very good at putting yourself either, whether it be under the spotlight or just advocating for another group. You're really, really good at doing very, very scary things. A lot of people don't do what you do. But that's the thing, Tyson, is that you're saying you're getting out of your comfort zone, you look so comfortable when you do it, so no one thinks that you're scared.

Tyson:
Which is crazy because in my mind I'm like, "They know that I'm shaking in my boots right now." But I guess-

Giselle Kowalski:
We don't have a clue.

Tyson:
That's just how you grow so the next time you do it, you're even more comfortable and I feel like you do a better job the next time. But yeah, that's what Texas State's all about learning more about yourself, getting out your comfort zone and growing.

Giselle Kowalski:
So I want to talk a little bit about your time here with this internship. What has this internship been like for y'all and what have you learned from it?

AnaBelle:
Okay, so coming into this internship, before this, I worked at, what is it called? Information technology over at Alkek.

Speaker 4:
ITAC.

AnaBelle:
ITAC. Well, yeah, so not ITAC, I think it's dissolved now, but it was information technology. So Paul was my old boss who, he's somebody who works here now. But anyway, throughout that I kind of, my job, it was a decision where I was like, I can either really lean in and start making content and pitching ideas and really go for it, or I can literally use this as more of a study hall. It was kind of an option of, I'm getting my work done, I'm getting my tasks done, I can do the bare minimum and then get my work done, or I can really pursue this and go for it. And I kind of made that decision of I want to go for it, what can I do?
And so I started pitching ideas and making videos and editing them and learning to use Premiere for the first time ever. And it was kind of throughout that work that I got to come over and do this job, which is incredible. And I think when I look back at college, this job is going to be 90% of the memories. We've been able to do so many cool things and trying out different clubs, that's the funnest thing ever. And interviewing people and editing and just learning how to make really good content, even like writing copy. So it would be really hard to summarize my experience within this department, but even just learning how to work in an office setting and how to ride a golf cart over to do this thing and coordinating and communicating, it's been probably one of my favorite things that I've gotten to be a part of.

Tyson:
Absolutely. I liked how you said that when you look back at your Texas State journey, 90% of your memories will be this job and I completely agree. So before I joined this job, my only kind of extracurricular activity was KTSW. I was a general staff member for the sports department, and I was just trying to get my foot in the water. Laurie Fluker always preached getting your hands on outside of the classroom. So when I had a class with Dale Blasingame for advanced social media and he recommended me for this job and that plus joining the staff and working under y'all has instilled so much confidence in me. Just the trust that y'all have in me first from Dale, then to you and everybody else on the staff. And it's been just such an honor being able to work under y'all and have the opportunities that y'all give us.
Like having a podcast with Kelly Damphousse, getting to do videos with him. Getting to be featured on Texas State's Instagram. I mean, never would I ever thought I be given these opportunities. When I came into Texas State, I thought I was just going to be a regular student just trying to get by, just trying to get my degree. And then this job has really transformed my Texas State journey into something like cinematic. I would say it's just a beautiful journey of where I've came from freshman year to when I got this job, it's really almost been life changing. Every single time I do something here at Texas State, I always share it with my family and they're like, "I cannot believe you're a brand ambassador for Texas State." It's unbelievable. And sometimes I have to pinch myself like, wow, I cannot believe I'm actually doing this. So this opportunity has been everything for me. I don't think I'll ever forget it, and I'll always be appreciative of having this opportunity.

Giselle Kowalski:
Oh, well, that's very sweet. I was going to ask y'all, if you could speak to fellow Bobcats who are considering internships, what advice would you give them?

AnaBelle:
Oh, you have to do it. You have to. And they say that, at least in my field, I can't really speak to other fields, but I know within journalism, which is communications and stuff, you really do need an internship. And I hated hearing that until I got one and I was like, "OK, I get it." Because you can learn so much in class and it's so valuable and it gives you that backing and it kind of backs your confidence to know what you're talking about. But until you do an internship, you don't have that real world experience. And so highly, highly recommend and also try to find one that connects to something you really care about. Because if you absolutely hate it, you are going to be spending a lot of time on it. So respect your own time and do your research and find something that you think you might be able to actually grow in or enjoy and then do your internship. Yeah.

Tyson:
Absolutely. I think internships are extremely important and critical in your personal development as a student, as a professional while you're in college. Not only because you're going to apply what you're learning in the classroom in real world situations, but you're meeting other people from different backgrounds, different cultures. You're learning a lot, not only about the field or whatever job you're necessarily doing, but just how to communicate with other people, how to work with other people, how to work in a work setting, how to be professional.
And then just learning about other people, getting to experience new opportunities. I mean, college is so much more than just a classroom, taking tests, getting good grades. It's so much more. I mean, while I've loved this opportunity and my internship at KTSW, I wish I would've done more honestly. I mean, there's so much on campus that you can do. I mean, there's a pickleball club, there's a Dungeons and Dragons club. I mean, there's so much that you can do. So many interesting people from so many different walks of life. So yeah, not only are you building your resume, but you're just having good memories that'll last a lifetime.

Giselle Kowalski:
I think that's one thing about college that I look back on and I did three and a half years and I'm almost like, "Man, why did I cut it short?" Because I see you guys and I see AnaBelle, you're always doing something new. And then also, Tyson, you did KTSW. I did not, I took a lot of internships, but they were all in my own field. I did not spread out past that and I miss that. But I feel like this job has allowed me to actually live vicariously through y'all like a dance mom that they're like, "Go, go, go." That's how I feel. Literally, we're watching Tyson play pickleball and I'm like, "Get them. Sic them." Anyway-

AnaBelle:
It's a great video, by the way.

Tyson:
Giselle was almost getting more competitive than I was. I was having a good time. Giselle's over here-

Giselle Kowalski:
"Come on, get them." Yeah, sorry, I apologize. But I was going to ask y'all about, you brought up something beautiful about meeting different people of different walks of life. You guys are always constantly meeting new people, whether it be professors, students, people you work with, et cetera, et cetera. Who is someone that changed your life that might not know about it?

Tyson:
Deep questioning after deep questioning. I know I've mentioned her name already, but I just have to give her her grace, it's Dr. Laurie Fluker. Her class, I forgot what it's called. Is it Intro to Mass Comm?

Giselle Kowalski:
Mm-hmm.

Tyson:
Intro to Mass Comm, yeah. If you're a comm major, you're going to have to take her class. But her lectures were, I would say 75% lecture she's teaching and then 25% just life lessons. I mean, she's telling you how to go through colleagues, how to carry yourself, what to do when you're facing setbacks, how to excel. And every single class, I was excited to go in there, not only to learn, but just to hear the life gems that she was giving every single lecture. And a lot of those still resonate with me. One of the biggest takeaways I took from her class was just to live for yourself, do what makes you happy, and don't compare yourself to others. Don't try to live your life to make other people happy, make yourself happy. And that's something that I've carried with me from that class to now on, and it's made such an impact on me, and I'm so grateful to have her class. Absolutely.

AnaBelle:
Oh my goodness. It's hard to name one person, because I don't want it to take away from all the people. So that's kind of what I'm having a hard time with. But honestly, I'm going to say, and I'll give context for the people listening in, but I'm going to say Rebecca and Rebecca is someone who works with us. But I got to meet Rebecca early on, I think my sophomore year. So when I started that other job that I mentioned, information technology, so still within Texas State, but kind of when we were talking about who we were when we got here and who we are now as we're leaving, she is someone who she got to see both of those things, if that makes sense.
When I had that job and I was kind of that wide-eyed freshman coming in, I met Rebecca and she's just always been such a supportive, I don't even know how to word it, but it's kind of, if you think through, you go through this big journey and there's kind of that common theme person of, they kind of see you throughout it and they support you and they encourage you. And I really don't think she knows how much I appreciate her, but she's just checking in, being like, "How's your day? Hope you have a good weekend." Little things like that. And if y'all look at my water bottle thing right now, I have a really cool cover on my water bottle, and Rebecca literally made it. And so it goes to show right here. But yeah, I would say she probably doesn't know how much, and maybe people can relate to that who are listening to this of maybe you have someone at work or in class or something and they'll never know. But maybe if Rebecca listens to this, she'll know.

Giselle Kowalski:
She'll know now. She'll know now because I'm going to tell her. No, that's really sweet. She's definitely one of those people that she will always make you feel good about yourself.

AnaBelle:
Always, yeah.

Giselle Kowalski:
Always. And it's the same thing with Dr. Laurie Fluker, like she will always make you realize that you are so worthy.

AnaBelle:
Absolutely.

Giselle Kowalski:
Those are two women who genuinely care about your well-being and who push you to be better just because of how kind they are. And you're like, "Man, all right." It changes your perspective. It makes you think differently about how you walk through your day.

AnaBelle:
And how inspiring they are. I want to be more like both of them. I love Dr. Laurie Fluker as well. She's so cool.

Giselle Kowalski:
Incredible women. Well, to wrap this up, I want you guys to kind of think, I had you guys think about your freshman self and how different you are today. So imagine you're listening to this podcast five to 10 years from now. What message do you want to send to your future self?

AnaBelle:
From our old self to our future self?

Giselle Kowalski:
Your current self. Like you right now, what do you want to tell future AnaBelle or future Tyson that's in that job or that's across the world traveling? What do you want to let them know?

Tyson:
The message I would give to my future self would just to never get complacent. Always try to excel, always try to improve. Never get comfortable with yourself in your situation. I feel as if when life gets comfortable, you're not necessarily growing or improving. So it sounds kind of weird, but just always be uncomfortable. Always try to achieve more, always try to be nice, always try to be a kind person. I always want to be nice to others, but main thing is just I just always want to improve. And then in five years, if I ever hear this message, I want to tell myself the same thing. The next five years I want to get even better and do more great things. So yeah, just constantly improving, constantly getting better.

AnaBelle:
I love that. Hi, future self. I have a little voice message for you. It's a little bit of a plea. Please don't make yourself into one thing out of the fear of being too many things. You are so passionate about so many things and that is OK. And I think that there can be this pressure to kind of go in one direction and really hard pursue one thing. And I know I've heard that from so many people feel that pressure. But if there are lots of things in the world that kind of call your name and light you up and that you want to explore, it's worth making the time to explore that.
And it's worth kind of connecting with people who can help you go in that direction. And I think that life is just too long to put ourselves in a box and say that we have to only be one thing because it makes us more digestible and it makes us more easy to understand. And I think sometimes we seek to be understood so badly that we'll simplify ourselves. But what I would ask of my future self is remember what lights you up and remember that can be more than one thing.

Giselle Kowalski:
Oh, y'all, that was beautiful. I think both of those are beautiful messages and they're also something that I'm absorbing right now as current Giselle. I want to grow and be better, and I also want to not just be one thing. I think a lot of people can relate to that. But those were all of my questions for both of y'all. I hope you guys have an incredible graduation. I can't wait to watch you both walk the stage. I am going to be so sad when y'all aren't here anymore, but just know that this place, as in JCK eighth floor or wherever I am is your home. So you can always come for anything. But thank you so much for being on Try at Texas State.

Tyson:
Thank you.

AnaBelle:
Thank you.

Giselle Kowalski:
And thank you for listening to this episode of the Try at Texas State podcast. Make sure to tune in next time to learn more about something else you can try on campus at Texas State. And also remember to follow us on our social media at TXST. This podcast is a production of the Division of Marketing and Communications at Texas State University. Podcasts appearing on the Texas State University Network represents the views of the hosts and guests, not of Texas State University. Again, I'm your host, Giselle Kowalski, and I'll see you next time. Bye, y'all.